First Time WS#5 - Come on in, it's a great time to start

Welcome! Many of us here are wintersowing for the first time this year. We hang out on this thread to discuss any and all questions, comments and happenings along the way. Those of you who are experienced - come help us! : )

We came from here:

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/944082/


IndyNanny I hope I didn't do my alyssum too early. I was encouraged by your talk of Alyssum brownies doing so well. I wanted to try some of my own. I planted a whole container, but I got the seeds at CheapSeeds (1000s of them) so I may even do a whole tray type set up of them at the beginning of the summer. Can't have too many border plants! I have never succeeded in growing allysum from the six packs at the store. They stay spindly for me and then just dry up and die.

I WSed a bunch of gulf winds allysum and they were some of the first seeds to come up. I'm looking forward to having them in lots of spots around the border of my beds, too.

We have called this a "leap of faith." That is exactly where I am sitting doing my best to have faith. ^_^ If anything needed stratified, it's done. LOL

It is looking less and less likely that we will be going back to NB this summer! I was kind of hoping that if we were to go back that I could steal away and come see all your pretty flowers.(nbgard) :) But are looking more at going up to the mountains in CO this year. We have friends that will be headed that way as well. I do love Texas in the summertime though. You are going to have a gorgeous flowerbed when all those flowers are in full swing!

This message was edited Jan 29, 2009 11:56 AM

OH forgot to add......... "tell us how your containers are doing"

Mine are either covered in snow and frozen, or just plain frozen.

Veronica: yes, the larkspur gentian blue is an annual so blooms in it's first year, though for me it was late, maybe August. Now it's one that performs like a perennial for me, reseeding and returning every year. They bloom in late summer the first year, drop seed, germinate, and survive winter as tiny seedlings. Second and following years they bloom earlier. I haven't seen my self sown ones lately. Now they're buried under ice. But we had sub zero temps a couple of weeks ago with no snow cover at the time. I'm not sure how many of my plants will survive this winter as it's been a terribly hard one for them.

Karen

Oh that's too bad about not coming to NB, but I know you will love CO. We spent a week and half there last summer and had a blast. I think my favorite part was the white water rafting and the ride at Royal Gorge where you are strapped in and you swing out over the edge of the gorge. We're trying to think of a bit of a scaled down vacation for this summer, but I'm not too much into just going to the coast. If you have any suggestions for places to go in NM that are too expensive, please send me a dmail about it.

Thanks for the confidence in my beds. I am hopeful, especially that everything I have selected can handle the heat. I guess if some of it dies out in the middle of the summer, the daisies, rudbeckias and coneflowers will still put hold down the fort during the heat!

My 5 containers that have already germinated are still looking good. I hope to do another 25+ this weekend and put some seed for a sweeter blend of lettuce in the veggie bed. I have a beautiful selection of lettuce right now, but only one of the three of the mix is not bitter, so I have to go lightly with the others in a salad. First lettuce I've ever grown, though so it's good for the confidence even if it's not the best for the palate.

As soon as I get all my containers done, I'll take a pic and post it.

Lissa Since you are in zone 7 you are probably okay on the alyssum. It seems to me the plants won't sprout until it is warm enough for them so you are going to warm up much sooner than I am. Someone else will surely know more about it than I do though. You will love them.

Thanks for the good wishes, all! Still sniffling, but can't stay in bed forever!! Like Terese's my containers are all either frozen & covered with snow or just olain frozen!

Just finding this thread..... new to seeds and winter sowing.... can ya'll suggest where to start?
Thanks
Genna

Heya Genna .... welcome to winter sowing....

first off... i guess a lil bit of education... [now where is that article by Critter ... ? ]

OK -- start here.... in the sticky at the top of the forum.... all the goodies ya need
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/815465/

Hi Genna, welcome to this thread. I hope you get as excited as I have about this method. It seems tailored for my busy lifestyle and budget. Although this is my first year at it, I am so optimistic, as evidenced by my 90+ containers and still going! If all or even half of these germinate I will be pulling out multiples of some common plants in my beds to make room and making more beds. I am so anxious, with dreams of lush cottage gardens this year.

Hi, Genna,
Welcome to the "club". Fortunately, we're not all first-timers here; there are also enough experienced folks to encourage those of us starting out! Maybe TOO encouraging! LOL!!! Witness nb's 90+ containers & my 75 ----- and we are both still going!
Since you like cannas and daylilies, they would be good to start with.
Stay and join the exchange!

Potagere/Jim

Hey Jim, I heard someone in a movie the other night mention that their garden was not a potagere. What does that mean?

I am excited - maybe in over my head as well because I have probably a hundred plus varieties of seeds to try........ Don't have a clue what I have gotten myself into and feel like I am already behind...... but am TRYING to catch up!!

Thanks for the link....I will start there.... Had tried to find critter's articles with no luck....
off to read....

Genna

Edited to add: Jim, I love almost all types of flowers.....coneflowers, daisys, blanket flowers, etc. Trying to get several beds filled and have lots of fresh flowers for cutting come summer time. Love roses, and almost anything that blooms....heck since joining DG I have even found some plants that don't bloom that I like! LOL..... I have a wide variety of seeds and don't know where I will put everything, but sure hope to have a lot more blooms this year than in the past.

Thanks!

This message was edited Jan 30, 2009 1:48 PM

genna -- i did a search for articles... here you can see Jill has written a few
http://davesgarden.com/sitewidesearch.php?q=Winter+Sowing

A potager is a traditional kitchen garden. It is usually just off the kitchen separate from the residential garden. It is planted in formal deisgns like geomtric shapes. It would have a combination of perrenials and vegetables and herbs. The potager usually incorporated guild planting.

You all are nuts. I spent years reading the books. Soil temp, air temp, distance to pluto at time of planting are all important and you are out planting in the snow! Well, it turns out that I cannot afford the seed mat I was going to buy this year. So I am forgetting the heat and planting in the snow. I have done my first WS. I see the sense in it. I was raised in corn country. One of the farmers problems when they plant the soy beans is the volunteer corn from the previous year crop. In my own gardens there are always volunteer tomatoes every where! I do not have room indoors. We do not see the kitchen table for weeks with all of the seed trays on it. I have 20 acres outdoors. The seeds are out there. This is actually exciting! Thanks all for telling me about it and for all of the wonderful posts about your success and failures. I am in!

LOL.. Kathy, that was too funny!

You do realize that you just joined us Nuts, right???? ^_^


I can't wait to see all the flowers..

Chris

Oh excellent. Me too, not enough room inside so WS feels like the perfect solution. It is exciting, isn't it? ;-)

Thanks Kathy for the info on potager's. Very interesting.

nbgard, I have always loved the look of formal plantings. I always planned to have a wonderful formal yard. LOL I have commitment issues. What if I need that part of the yard for something else later? As time went on the kids would bring something home from school that they planted or got from the conservation department during the annual assembly devoted to conservation. Of couse, if the kids bring it home it must be planted in the yard proper and not out in the back 40. They want it where they can see it and take care of it. Now the yard is trees and shade. It is a wonderful place to sit and converse, read a book, catch up on crocheting but the formal garden never came to be. The dream is still there. The potager is top most on my mind. It combines beauty with function.

Answered in my sleep! I like that!
Jim

Actually, nowadays, potager is pretty much used in the same way as "vegetable garden" is used in English. It is often true, however, that one sometimes finds more flowers and culinary & medicinal herbs in a French vegetable garden, mixed in with the veggies. But some of you probably do the same: plant basil at the front of the tomatoes and lettuces underneath them. Makes picking stuff for salad a one-stop job! Peppers and onions seem to work well together, also, for the same reason.

Now, tell me, Kathy, what is "guild planting"?

Jim

Is it a great time to start? Or is it too late? I'm in zone 4a so my last frost date is between May 1 & May 30.

Oh, you're in a GOOD place for WS, ka_mtka!

I'm finished!!
Today I winter sowed the last seeds (I think...). More than 200 different plants.
What I winter sowed earlier is still covered with a bit of snow.

Hard to find the jugs like the Americans have, just found a few

But last week I found these. They are a bit small, but from some seeds I do not have so much. They cost about $ 10,00 per 100.

A guild garden is a combination of perrenials and annuals. It is like organic gardening in the sense that you take the requirements of plants into consideration and put together the ones that have same needs. Guild gardening includes trees in the garden. In fact the center of a guild garden is usually a fruit tree with everything else radiating out from it. Tall plants give shade to plants that require shade. It can look chatic at first glance but works like natre. When you walk thru any natural area whether it be woods or prairie, there is not just one kind of plant growing. Shade loving plants grow in the shade of sun loving plants. Moisture loving plants grow in the depressions of the ground while plants that like well draining soil frow on the higher spots. Plants that are heave feeders grow amongst plants that provide lots of leaf litter to provide mulch and ultimately compost and nutrients. Nature does not have one plant take over acres and acres. It has many plants working together and taking advatage of what the others offer. Companion planting, permaculture and guild gardening all work from the same basic principles. Guild as the name would imply is more formal. When you think of companion planting, you see rows of crops, permaculture and guild are less rows and more design with more perenials (many edible) interspersed with annuals. The idea of guild planting is to create a garden that will feed you long term and not just one 4 month season.

Beautifully described and expressed, Kathy, thank you! This is what I always work towards, though I am certain my knowledge about specific design elements could be vastly improved...... Communities of plants that naturally support one another, the concept of ecological "climax" conditions, as opposed to design from the outside, as it were......

Jonna, hope we get to see photos of your gardens too, later on, I bet they are scrumptious. ;-)

Thanks, Kathy. I have striven for a sort of "permaculture" for years, but had never encountered the term "guild planting" before!

Thank you Kyla. I was feeling clumsy in my explanations. I can "see" what I am trying to say but the words kept failing me. Gardening is such a sensual thing involving intellect, emotions and the five senses. It is more visual than verbal.

I once worked for a woman (I was landscape maint type gardener for a while) who was blind, but who loved her garden. For her of course, it was tactile, but also the visual aspect remained important , because all her many friends who were sighted shared her love of plants. It was quite an interesting experience!

I believe we tend to feel clumsy with our words when we know a great amount about a profoundly complex subject with which we are still engaged in a learning process! So often that feeling of clumsiness means only that you really know so much more than you have found appropriate words to express. IMO.

;-)

For me, gardening is above all a relationship with the Communities of Nature. I do my best to allow the non-human intelligence of the natural world to speak to me and have a proper voice in my decisions. This is nearly impossible to express in any way that does not end up sounding just nutso to many people but sometimes I say, oh, what the heck, and try to say it anyway.

Kyla

Sounding nutso never bothered me much. People who do not understand are to be pitied because it just means they are not where they can feel what I feel and I feel pretty good. Just my opinion of course.

;-)

I'm working on a list to let you know what I winter sowed and what germinated when. Hope I can post it here, because I use Lotus dbase, a very old fashioned program, but it works very good.

Ok, better late than never..I got 6 (woohoo) jugs done and set outside. Definitely not on Jonna's scale, huh?? :)

But I have to tell ya'll this.. I decided the first jug was going to be purple coneflower, which I've always wanted to grow. I'd gotten a lot of seeds from the newbie thread that Lorraine does and so I opened the little package of seeds and I was so surprised. They were from Jim (Potagere).. how about that? My first WS'd jug is from Jim's French seeds.. I think that's too darn cool! And I'm taking that as a good sign too :)

Thanks Jim!!

Chris